MANHATTAN — The moment, for those watching in the McHale Center, was the last rough patch to a bouncy Kansas State basketball season.

Time was called, 1.1 second remained and a loss to Wisconsin was inevitable in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Frank Martin was irate with his freshman guard, Will Spradling, for not reacting properly to a ball screen. Left open, Spradling did not shoot. Instead, he deferred — naturally, it seemed — to the all-time leading scorer in K-State history, handing the ball to Jacob Pullen, whose guarded jumper was blocked.

The coarse lashing Spradling absorbed from his coach left you to wonder. Just how will he respond moving forward?

The question remains to be answered. Another season awaits. But Spradling has moved on from the disappointment in Tucson.

“It happened. You couldn’t really do anything about it. Just learn from your experiences,” the 6-foot-2 guard from Overland Park said as K-State observed its Media Day on Wednesday.

Said Martin: “The fact he didn’t play very well in a game that ended our season is burning a fire within him.”

Confidence was not shaken, in part because Spradling relates collectively to the frank side of Frank.

“He was always pushing me,” Spradling said. “He was on me every single day, so that’s something I really enjoyed. He brought that same intensity every day, and that made me bring it too.”

This season Spradling must do so without Pullen. The heroic gamer with the feared beard left K-State with 2,132 points and 85 victories. Without him, Spradling must provide leadership for a team loaded with newcomers, including three new scholarship recruits in the backcourt.

“He realized Jacob was going to step up and be demanding and tell people what he thought,” Martin said. “So then, you have to figure out how to support that leadership. Will did that.

“At the same time, I’m in his ear all the time, telling him, ‘Just because Jacob’s talking doesn’t mean you have to hush. You keep supporting him the way you are, but be willing to let everyone know you’re on board.”

Martin can make an ear bleed if he gets into it full force. He is radically different than, say, a business professor delivering a lecture.

But Spradling, who hopes to settle into a peaceful existence as an accountant some day, is having fun imparting some hoops smarts in practice. What he learned from Pullen can be expressed both with his voice and his game.

“He just brought it every day. He didn’t care if I was a freshman,” Spradling recalled. “He was going to go at me and try to embarrass me every day. And I feel like this year that’s what we’re trying to do to all the incoming players that we have. We’re trying to go at ‘em. We’re not going to go easy on them just because they’re new. It’s fun. I like to embarrass them.”

Hearing Spradling say that with his shrilly voice ... it sounds rather suspect.

But the kid proved his worth as the season progressed last year. His average minutes (21.9) ranked fifth on the team. He was second behind Pullen in assists and steals. Almost two-thirds of Spradling’s field goals were threes as he averaged 6.4 points.

A five-game tour of Macedonia and Kosovo in May reinforced whatever confidence he gained. Joining other Big 12 players, including Jeff Withey and Jordan Jueneman of Kansas, Spradling was named the team MVP of that trip for Athletes in Action, which played teams from Poland, Bulgaria and Kosovo.

“You could put a fishing pole on his shoulder and whistle that RFD (Andy Griffith) song and think he’s Opie,” said Tim Maloney, the Baylor assistant who coached the squad. “He may be only 6-foot and not look old enough, but the truth is he’s a really, really skilled basketball player, and a very intelligent player on the floor. Once he’s on the floor he can be an assassin.”

His ballhandling improved most. According to Spradling, that was a must. Turnovers kept him out of games early last season.

“A good night for me is taking three charges,” he said. “Having a low turnover game also makes me happy.”

Same goes for his coach.

“I’m watching him at practice doing things that he wasn’t sure he was supposed to do last year,” Martin said. “He’s being a lot more assertive with his play. Now I’m challenging him to be more vocal, along with his play. I’m excited about him.”